Attachment for electrical frequency shifters



Jan. 30, 1940. H. R. CLARK ATTACHMENT FOR ELECTRICAL FREQUENCY SHIF'IERS Filed April '15, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I 55 BY I BOflflf g R.

M AT RNEY.

Jan. 30, 1940.

H. R. CLARK 2,188,829 ATTACHMENT FOR ELECTRICAL FREQUENCY SHIFTERS Filed April 15, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

Patented Jan. 30, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ATTACHMENT FOR ELECTRICAL FRE- QUENCY SHIFTERS 3 Claims.

This invention relates to electrical frequency shifters and more particularly to an attachment therefor.

The object of the invention is to provide such 5 an attachment so. that by a very simple manipulation it is possible for a user of a radio apparatus or the like, to obtain the station desired. The improvement lends itself also to remote control.

The invention consists in providing elongated recesses on a surface member, disposed in continuation in relation to a series of impediments, with each elongated recess corresponding to a group of lOs, and in providing non-elongated recesses on said surface member, one for each unit in the s, also adapted to be engaged by impediments, these impediments being operated by members corresponding to the 0s desired and by members corresponding to the units desired, the impediments of the units being arranged in staggered relation to the members of the lOs, whereby combinations of lOs and units may be made from. a desired minimum to a desired maximum of units by engaging one of the 10s impediments to result in the desired ten unit and for unital portions, in addition to said ten unit, if desired, by operating the corresponding impediment member for the unit on the surface member.

The embodiment shown consists of a rotary disc having such elongated recesses and nonelongated recesses, with a plate member disposed diametrically to the disc, and upon the plate member are push buttons or the like arranged in two series, one series for the 10s, and one series for the units, and these 10 series and unit series are arranged in staggered relation with each other, and in relation to the disc.

Assuming a disc provided with kilocycle demarcations ranging from 500 to 1500 and subdivided into units of 10s corresponding to each channel now permitted under the present regulations, the elongated recesses provided upon the disc correspond to each group of ten subdivisions upon the peripheral portion of the disc, and the multiplicity of non-elongated recesses correspond to each unit subdivision upon the peripheral portion of the disc. The push button members are arranged in electrical circuit connections so that the pressing down of the member causes the disc to rotate and to continue to rotate until the desired station is obtained, when the rotating ceases.

Another embodiment of my invention contemplates the use .of the device justdescribed,'in connection with remote control.

Finally, the embodiment of the invention described is suitably connected with means whereby indications of a red lamp or a green lamp are utilized with the cutting out of the dynamic speaker, and also provision is made for the reversal of the direction of rotation of the disc of the embodiment described.

The invention will be described hereinafter and embodiments thereof shown in the drawings, and the invention will be finally pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a front view of one embodiment of my invention, showing the same connected with an electric motor for rotating the disc,

Figure 2 is a plan'view of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a detailed enlarged sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1 of a portion of the disc and of the push-button members cooperating therewith, showing at the same time the remote control provision for these push button members, and showing in section the recesses for the tens and the units, and

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic View of the embodiment shown in Figure 1, with the electrical parts in diagrammatic form.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the various views.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to Figure l, the disc I0 is of a suitablediameter and of a thickness in correspondence therewith as generally shown inFigures 1 and 2. The axis-of the disc is shown at H. The disc is rotated by having'a pulley I2 in turn rotated by the motor l3, the pulley I2 having its peripheral contact with the periphery of the disc l0.

Upon the upper half-of the disc l0 there is arranged a band extending 180 around the periphery of the disc. This band I4 is subdivided into 150 subdivisions l5. The beginning of this band is marked with 500, corresponding to 500 kilocycles, and after ten subdivisions I 5' are provided,

- the tenth subdivision line I5 is indicated by the number 600, corresponding to 600 kilocycles, and so on, until 1500 has been obtained. If desired, the intermediate subdivision corresponding to the 50 can be indicated, as for instance, 750 and 1250, corresponding to the kilocycles.

Upon the face of the disc. l0 there are arranged a plurality of elongated recesses ll, each of which corresponds to ten subdivisions. That is,

when the disc I0 rotates in respect to a stationary point, the armand movement will correspond vided with an insulated button 30.

to ten subdivisions. As this stationary point may vary in its radial position in respect to the disc, there are necessarily variations in the length of these elongated recesses. The disc I0 is also provided with a plurality of non-elongated recesses, preferably circular in form, these being indicated by l8. Preferably, the disc is of an electrical conducting material, such as metal, or any other substance suitable for manufacturing purposes, and these elongated recesses I1 and non-elongated recesses 18, may be arranged in the disc in suitable position by providing suitable recesses in the material of the disc 10 and placing into such recesses members of insulating material which in turn.

curved and circular recess I8. The members-"l1 are constructed in substantially the same manner as the member 20, excepting that they are somewhat circular in form,as seen from Figure 1, and, asstated, have elongated recesses.

The axis H of the disc l fl'is supported by sleeve member 22 which is engaged to an up-,

right 23 suitably secured to some part of the radio apparatus by means of bolts 24., This sleeve 22 passes through an insulatedmember 24 and extends to the front of the disc 10 where itsupports a vertical plate 25. This vertical plate is preferably'made of insulated material, as shown in Figure 3, and has a plurality of openings therein. There are eleven openings on the left-hand side of the plate 25, and ten openings on the right-hand side of the plate 25. It will be noted that these two series of openings are arranged in staggered relation with each other. Each of these openings is provided with ,a bushing 26 of electrical conducting material, and through these bushings pass stems 21 of push button switches. These stems 2! are provided with a shoulder 28, and there is a spring 29 disposed between the bushing 26 and the shoulder 28. The stems 21 are pro- The other end of the stems 21 has an electrical contact member 3| preferably made of a plate having its two free ends joined together, each having a hole adapted to be brought into registration with the other hole and w ith a screw 32 passing through the holes to secure these ends to the stem 21. 'The plate 31 has a teat-like prOjec- 31, and the conductor 35 is, then connectedwith a conductor 38 going to one potential of the circuit. -The other potential of the circuit is connected with a conductor 39to ,one terminal 40 of the motor l3, the otherterminal 4| of the motor being connected with a conductor 43 to a contact member 44 which engages the peripheral portion of the disc 10 made of suitable conducting material topermit current to passthere through.

The push button members 30 upon the plate "ll of the disc l0.

25, as shown in Figure 1, are marked on the front thereof with certain numbers, the lefthand group or numbers 5 to 15, corresponding to the 500 kilocycles and 1500 kilocycles on the peripheral band M of the disc in. The group of push buttons on the right-hand side of the plate 25 are each marked 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80,- 90, and 00, corresponding to the subdivisions in the peripheral band I4 of the disc Iii. If then, it would'be desired to have the statio'n'known as 710, the button marked '7, and the button marked 10 would be pressed, and the device would be set i in'to'operation until the station 710 has been obtained. With the position of the parts as shown in Figure 1, if the'buttons 7 and 10 be pressed, the electric circuit 35, 38, 39, W, 4|, 43, 44 and It will be immediately closed and the motor will be set into operation so as to rotate the disc ID.

When the disc has been rotated so as to bring the corresponding elongated recess ll into registration with the switch point 32, the circuit will become broken on account of the insulation forming the elongated recess I1. But as the switch member 32 which has been pressed down by pressing the button I0 causes the circuit to be closed, the disc will continue to rotate until the switch member 32 engages into that cOrresponding non-elongated recess !8.. When it does so engage, the circuit has been broken and the motor ceases torotate.

The motor used is, of course, one which startsquickly and stops with the breaking of the current.

For remote control, it is merely necessar'yto provide a duplicate of plate25, and upon this duplicate plate, notfs'hown, there are provided a plurality of solenoids 45, one foreach push button member. A third plate, havinga series,

of push button switches thereon, would bealso provided near the place of comfort .of the listener. .S uchaplate is shown in Figure 3 and indicated by 46, the push button being indicated by 41. An electric circuit is provided in which other potential, this conductor 59 passing around H the coil of the solenoid and being adapted to b .have its circuit closedby the push button 4'! contacting with the point 58 of the conductor 49. The solenoid has the well known armature- 5|. Thus by a user-having a plate with a corresponding series of push buttons thereon, he need simply pressthe' desired push buttons and I set the'solenoids into operation supported by the duplicate plate, and the solenoids being in regis.-.

tration with the push buttons shown in Figures 3 3 and 1, the push buttons 30 will be moved to a position so as to check rotation of the disc H).

For the purpose of returning'the disc Ii! to its initial position, a reversing switch is provided which is shown in dotted lines in Figure 1, and 'which is shown in electrical diagram form in Figure 4. This switch is the ordinary lever type having its axisarranged coaxially with the axis" The handle of this switch is moved inone'or the other position as shown in Figure 4 either in the full line position or in the. dotted line position. In the full line posi- 'tion, the contact -member 56 of this switch 51 makes contact with the conductor 58'which is connected with the conductor 43. ductor 58 in turn is connected with a conductor 59 which is connectedwith' one brush- 60 of'the motor, the other brush 6| being connected with the conductor 62 contacting with the conductor This con- 63 which is connected in turn with the conductor 39 whereby the circuit is closed. Switch 5i is moved by its arms being acted upon by either abutment tit or M, on the turning of the disc. The handle 55 permits manual operation. The contact point contacts with either the contact point it or PM and closes the respective electric circuits.

Thus, by the operation of the reversing switch 5?, the motor i operated in either one or the other direction, the operation of the reversing switch and its electrical connection being wellknown and not claimed herein.

In addition to the parts described, there is shown in Figure 4 a diagram having the conductors lb and it leading to the low voltage pilot light supplied from the filament winding and having a red light [2 and green light l3, 8. switch S5 is provided and conductors l5 and 11 lead to the output winding of the set. Dynamic speaker is is shown as in circuit. The conductors Elli and iii are respectively connected with the conductors 3. and These electrical parts are well-known and not described in detail and form part of the usual set, and are not claimed herein.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the invention is an electrical tuning mechanism whereby a radio set is tuned accurately, quickly and simply to any and all desired frequencies without the usual pro-selecting or setting up of cogs, pegs, and mechanical and electrical contacts, also doing away with the limitations that usually accompany automatic tuning of the mechanical or electrical type.

W'ith this invention it is possible to select any desired station according to kilocycles with the pressing of the two buttons which correspond with the desired station being tuned. It is possible to tune electrically any station without pre-determination or set-ups, one hundred different stations on the broadcast band, with the combined twenty-one buttons, accurately and with a minimum amount of cost relative to mechanism and manufacture.

The control panel or plate 25 is placed over a movable metallic disc having insulated recesses of circular shape and elongated shape. This tuning disc is rotated by a motor which only opcrates when the tuning buttons are pressed. The connection between motor and disc may be such as to make it possible to attach this mechanism to any type receiver without any mechanical or electrical changes in dial assembly or radio set assembly.

In the embodiment shown, a broadcast band of 500 to 15:30 kilocycles has been shown with automatic tuning possible at every ten kilocycles, but should it be necessary to require a greater number of stations that may be out of this band of frequency, or stations less than ten kilocycles apart, this be readily accomplished with the addition of other control buttons and increased amount of selector indentations.

It will have been noted that the tuning buttons are wired in parallel, making one side or a switch, whereas the metallic surface tuning disc constitutes the other pole of the switch. This means that in order to obtain contact between the two poles creating a closed circuit, it is necessary to have made contact with the tuning disc with one or more tuning buttons. he tuning buttons are mounted on the control plate of insulated material. They are mounted in such a way that their spring contacts do not make contact with the tuning disc unless pressed, and

upon released pressure they are immediately brought back to their suspended position by. means of a coil spring. Upon the making of contact of said button with the tuning disc, thereby closing the circuit to the motor, the tuning disc is thereby revolved against the button contacts or impediments, and ceases to revolve only when both said contacts coincide with the two pre-arranged'insulated indentations in said tuning disc. These indentations constitute the se lecting elements for that particular station of selection. This operation holds true to any combination of two buttons on the control plate with corresponding numbers reading or indicating any particular station so arranged. This makes it possible to select one of any buttons in the first column, and one of any of the buttons in the second column, and obtain any radio signals of ten ls locycles apart, or less. The relative position of the control buttons and the insulated indentations in the tuning disc, is arranged at the time of manufacture for the particular type of tuning mechanism used.

It is possible, for certain stations, to utilize either one button or two buttons. Assuming the station. desired to be 700, this can be obtained either by pressing button 1, corresponding to 700, or by pressing button 6, corresponding to 600, and then pressing the unit button the ten units added to the six l0s, make up the 700.

In the following underlying statement of the principle, I have called the parts corresponding to the buttons 5 to 15 as 10s, and the parts corresponding to the buttons 10 to 00 as units, but any other phraseology defining the relationship may be used.

It will, therefore, have been seen that elongated recesses are arranged on a surface member and disposed in continuation in relation to a series of impediments, the elongated recesses corresponding to a group of 10s. There are also non-elongated recesses on said plate, one for each unit the lfis disposed to be engaged by a series of impediments in staggered relation to the first impediment, whereby combinations of 10s and units may be made from a desired minimum to a desired maximum of units by engaging two of the impediments corresponding to 10s to result in the desired 10 unit, and for unital operation in addition to said 10 unit, if desired, by providing a corresponding impediment to the unit in the surface member.

It is, of course, clear that in order to carry out this principle of operation underlying the invention, it is not necessary to have the disc of circular shape and the plate 25 of the shape as shown, since a sliding plate may be used in place of the disc, and other variations may be made within the spirit of the invention as defined by this underlying principle.

In Figure 2 is shown the support 23 for the shaft Illa of the disc, which is secured to the disc and supported in the sleeve 22. The support 23 is not shown in Figure 1. The device shown in Figure 1 may be installed in a radio apparatus during its construction, and the shaft of the disc may be coupled to the standard tuning mechanism of the radio. In such cases, where the radio is already completely manufactured, the structure of Figures 1 and 2 may be applied as an attachment to the radio. In such a case, shaft ma may be suitably coupled to the shaft. of the standard tuning dial. Or, a pulley lllb shown in dotted lines in Figure 2 may, by means of a belt, be coupled with a pulley on the condenser shaft,

not shown. Or, a gearing arrangement on the disc It] may cooperate with a gearing on the standard tuning dial. Many other connections suggest themselves.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred form of construction for carrying my invention into effect, this is capable of variation and modification without departing from the spirit of the invention. I, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction set forth, but desire to avail myself of such variations, modifications and adaptations as come within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for tuning a radio set, comprising, in combination, a metallic disc carrying thereon a plurality of arcuate, insulated major elements and also carrying thereon a plurality of insulated minor elements, a set of manually settable contact making and breaking plungers movable back and forth from the face of said disc, adapted to engage electrically with said disc, and normally in circuit-breaking position, a second set of man- 'ually settable contact making and breaking plungers movable back and forth from the face of said disc, adapted to engage electrically with said disc, and normally in circuit-breaking position,

the two sets of plungers being respectively adapted to cooperate with said insulated major elements and said insulated minor elements, a terminal connected to said metallic disc, and another terminal connected in parallel to all of said plungers whereby the movement of at least one plunger to circuit making position closes a circuit until said plunger comes into engagement with one of said insulated elements on the disc when the latter is rotated.

2. Apparatus for tuning a radio set, comprising, in combination, a metallic disc carrying thereon a plurality of arcuate, insulated major elements and also carrying thereon a plurality of insulated minor elements, a set of manually settable contact making and breaking plungers movable back and forth from the face of said disc, adapted to engage electrically with said disc, and normally in circuit-breaking position, a second set of manually settable contact making and breaking plungers movable back and forth from the face of said disc, adapted to engage electrically with said disc, and normally in circuit-breaking position, the two sets of plungers being frictionally mounted and normally spring pressed away from the disc and also respectively adapted to cooperate with said insulated major elements and said insulated minor elements, a terminal connected to said metallic disc, and another terminal connected in parallel to all of said plungers whereby the movement of at least one plunger to circuit making position closes a circuit until said plunger comes into engagement with one of said insulated elements on the disc when the latter is rotated.

3. Apparatus for tuning a radio set, comprising, in combination, a metallic disc carrying thereon a plurality of arcuate, insulated major elements and also carrying thereon a plurality of insulated minor elements, a set of manually settable contact making and breaking plungers movable back and forth from the face of said disc, adapted to engage electrically with said disc, and normally in circuit-breaking position, a second set of manually settable contact making and breaking plungers movable back and forth from the face of said disc, resilient contact points mounted on one end of all of said plungers and adapted to engage electrically with said disc, and normally in circuit-breaking position, the two sets of plungers being respectively adapted to cooperate with said insulated major elements and said insulated minor elements, a terminal connected to said metallic disc, and another terminal connected in parallel to all of said plungers whereby the movement of at least one plunger to circuit making position closes a circuit until said plunger comes into engagement with one of said insulated elements on the disc when the latter is rotated.

HARRY R. CLARK. 

